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The launch of the newest version of Nintendo's DS handheld has seen hundreds of Japanese gamers line up for the privilege of owning one. From the IGN article: "With such an early sellout, it should come as no surprise that retailers had to turn people away. IGN noticed a steady stream of people arriving at shops, seeing the line, confirming that the DS was indeed impossible to get, then leaving. Some got in line anyway, perhaps in the hope that a few extra units would be available at the end."Update: 03/02 15:46 GMT by Z: Gamasutra spells out that the DS Lite has sold out after only a short time on the Japanese market.

Seriously, though. This is what a launch should look like in true form. And it's about time people lined up for one of Nintendo's products. They haven't seen a hardware launch like this... ever. I mean, the DS sold out in a lot of stores, but it took a couple of weeks in most cases. Now it's got the games. I can't wait for the new one to come out so I can replace my old DS which was stolen last summer...

From what I've seen, the DS lite is only slightly smaller and slightly less in weight. How much is the price difference? From what I've seen, when Nintendo makes a smaller version of the same item (Like the GBA), they actually jack up the price. I'm not knocking Nintendo here, but it's not like the size difference between an iPod & and iPod Nano. So is there some kind of killer feature for the DS Lite that the regular DS doesn't have?

No: it's just way cooler. And the DS has gained enormous popularity in Japan, even though people were skeptical at first. I got one on the Japanese launch day, standing in my gakuran (standard black school uniform) with the pre-order receipt (which turned out to be pretty useless in the end) in hand at GEO. Ah, the memories... Of course, I mostly played GBA games on it for the first couple of months; low demand for the system originally came from the low amount of games available at first.

The weight issue alone might make it worth it for some people, especially those who don't already have a DS. The original DS is kinda weighty for its size, and with the lid up, it additionally tends to be a little top heavy. After a bit of playtime with the unit's weight unsupported, my wrists and hands *hurt*. Good thing its so awesome in general or I'd kick it to the curb.

It only comes in white. If I can't express my individuality by purchasing one of five uniquely-colored handhelds, by god I'm not buying it.

Good God. Are you a geek or not? PAINT IT. I know a guy who repainted his N64 controller in camo colours, very stylish. Or plaster it with stickers. Or transfers. Or carve your tribe's traditional markings into the case with a knife.

You don't have to keep the thing exactly as it was when it left the factory, you know.

Actually I've never lived in LA, but I'm a Cajun by genetics and by upbringing. I can even muster up the accent when needed, and my "AIEE!" is quite impressive. If you've seen Waterboy, the unintelligble assistant coach could have been modeled after one of my uncles.

Don't worry, I'm guessing that within a week some casemodders will start posting step-by-step instructions on how to mount huge neon lights, loud fans and other stupid shit on it to make it look "cool" (oops, almost forgot to mention the "tribal"-shaped plexiglass window with a biohazard sign on it, you need one of those to make your $ANYTHING look stylish).

Two new very indivodual colours should be available within a week, they just had some scheduling problems.
Soon, you will probably be able to buy your DS Lite with very individualized official Tribal markings or a SNES/Super Famicom colour scheme, tailoured to your needs and desires.

Microsoft I think could learn a good bit from this Nintendo launch. Reading slashdot before the 360's launch, you could see a majority of people saying "the industry is not ready for this..." and "it's only marginally better than the original xbox..."

Then along comes Nintendo to show us what a successful launch is supposed to be like. Sure, there are some shortage concerns, but knowing the big N these will last a couple weeks AT MOST, not a couple of months! But the biggest suprise at all is that there

None.I was in Japan 3 weeks ago and it was already very hard to find a regular DS.The PSP was available everywhere, but the DS was sold out thoughout the Akihabara quarter. So I would guess the DS would sell even better...

So wait a minute, Microsoft needs to learn from Nintendo? What exactly makes this a success?

Yeah, it sold out, but they only delivered a third [lik-sang.com] of what was initially expected. So shortages and hard to get consoles for most people are what Microsoft needs to do? Didn't they just do that?

Or maybe you're lauding them for their ability to polish an old product and resell it? DS Lite, all the random ports for the GBA.

I might be an anomoly, but I'd rather Nintendo start making some new games.

In 2005, Ninteodo published 38 games in North America.Of those, from what I can tell, six were brand new games not based on prior franchises at all (Nintendogs, Trace Memory, Battalion Wars, Geist, Meteos, and Polarium).

Of the rest, from what I can tell only three or four are ports of existing titles (Final Fantasy IV, Dr. Mario / Puzzle League, Donkey Kong Country 3, and possibly Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, which I'm not sure of).

So last year, they had 34 never before seen games, and 4 ports. What's t

Sorry, I'm not following you here. Are you saying that because Japan is more densely populated, lines like this happen all the time? Or are you saying that it's only because the population density is so high that there were lines for the DS Lite? By that logic, shouldn't there have been similar lines for the XBox 360?

If there's a correlation between high population density and the popularity of the DS, you certainly haven't demonstrated it. Please clarify.

Lik-Sang has sent all their overseas pre-order customers and email telling them if they want to receive a DS Lite, they will have to wait a few weeks, and pay an additional $30. Please note that Play-Asia is only making their customers wait, but is honoring the original price. Too bad I ordered from the wrong place...

Bad luck man. Purely by luck I did order from Play-Asia this time instead of Lik-Sang, as I usually order all of my imports from them. But LS is getting very greedy at system launches, I remember they really jacked their PSP prices right up when it launched in Japan too. I suppose it's a free market and people are willing to pay, but still it does sting a bit.

I didn't view it so lightly. It was extortion. They waited until I could not pre-order anywhere else before issuing their ultimatum: buy for more than the agreed price or don't get your DS. They will never again get my business.

I think the DS lite is a really good design, the original ds was a little tacky but this new one looks better. The only handhelds i have seen around of late have been the DS. Ohh and _one_ PSP held by some rich kid on release day.I will be buying a ds lite. Good to see it is going off:D